The Spirit Of Mickey

Kid Vid - For Younger Viewers

July 23, 1998|By SUSAN DUNNE

THE SPIRIT OF MICKEY

Eleven Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 1920s, '30s and '40s

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 72 minutes, ages 2 and up, $22.99

Mickey Mouse fans who missed their chance 14 years ago to own ``Steamboat Willie'' on video -- the 1984 tape on which it appeared, ``Cartoon Classics, Limited Gold Edition, Mickey,'' has long been out of print -- have another chance with the release of ``The Spirit of Mickey.''

``Willie,'' Mickey's 1928 film debut, is the most noteworthy of 11 shorts from the '20s, '30s and '40s on ``Spirit.'' For a film- history buff, the presence of ``Willie'' more than justifies the purchase price. It's a bonus, then, that the other 10 shorts are entertaining, too.

All feature the old-style Mickey, when he was rangy, pugnacious and voiced by Walt Disney himself, before Mickey became a bland international ambassador of good will. And some of these cartoons are so over-the-top, psychedelically weird that one wonders if Walt was eating and sleeping well when he made them.

``The Band Concert'' (1935) is the oddest of them all. Mickey is conducting a band of proto- Goofys and is disturbed by the caterwauling of snack vendor Donald. Due to a brawl and a twister, all concerned wind up in the trees. ``Thru the Mirror'' (1936) is almost as strange. Mickey goes through the looking glass, where inanimate objects come to life and Mickey flees for his sanity.

These cartoons are full of very dangerous activities that were the stock and staple of old-time animation. Children shouldn't try any of these monkeyshines at home. As long as they know this, they'll have a lot of fun with ``Spirit.''

A kitten is put in a sack and thrown into a river. (It survives.) A dogcatcher points a gun at Pluto and says ``I'm gonna blow your head off.'' Kids may be frightened by the former, and parents offended by the latter.